River Ward, one of Night City's finest cops, is a romance option for V in Cyberpunk 2077. Keep in mind that he can only be wooed with a female V, so make sure to choose this option and follow the other steps below to successfully romance the NCPD agent.
There are a few romance options for V, whether she's being played as a man or woman, such as the fan-favorite Judy Alvarez, a braindance technician that's met during an early main quest in the prologue of Cyberpunk 2077. But among the male options, the NCPD detective River will likely appeal to players who fancied Paladin Danse in Fallout 4, as they're both kind-hearted burly men who are dedicated to uncorrupted law and order.
Meeting River Ward
First, V will need to meet River, which happens during the I Fought The Law sidequest. To prompt this quest in Cyberpunk 2077, players will need to finish the main storyline quest Life During Wartime. After completing it, V will get a call from Elizabeth Peralez, who will assign the I Fought The Law quest to V. During this mission, Peralez will give the contact info of Detective River to V, who will need to meet up with him at Chubby Buffalo. Complete this quest and River will thank V for her help, parting ways for the time being. Choices made during this mission won't affect the outcome of the romance.
Romancing River Ward
After some time passes — it doesn't seem to be triggered by any specific event in Cyberpunk but will happen randomly — River will call V again and ask for her help, starting the side quest The Hunt. If the player chooses, they can speed this process up by jumping time in 24-hour increments until they receive the phone call. During the mission, while dialogue options don't seem to matter, it's important that Randy comes out alive. To do this, make sure that the investigation with River successfully leads them to Edgewood Farm. Not doing this may lock the player out of the next quest.
After finishing The Hunt and rescuing Randy, River will once again contact V after a few days. This time, he calls V, inviting her over for dinner at Joss and Randy's house. During Following The River, dialogue options start to be important and V will need to flirt with River to successfully romance him.
Of course, start by accepting his offer for dinner, followed by "Missed you too." In other words, don't dodge his flirtation. When playing with the kids, let them win, and later, when River thanks V for this, respond with "No problem. They're great kids." When eating with Joss, River, and the kids and Joss asks about V's family, respond with "Like to have one someday." When Joss outs River's crush on V, V should respond with "Out to set me up with River," and the kids will tease V, who should respond with, "I do!"
Later on, River will take V up to a roof that looks over Night City. During this, he'll hand over his pistol to V as a gift. Respond with "What's the occasion?" When River says he has great calves, this is a moment of truth where the player can shoot down his advances if they'd like to. To romance him, choose the other option. And the dialogue option following will be just as obvious; choose "Just don't fall in love..." rather than the other option to keep it going.
After this, the rest of the romance will be straightforward and V will have the option of starting a relationship with River if they'd like to.
Cyberpunk 2077 is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One, and later on PS5 and Xbox Series X.
